“Come on, play me,” Kim Gordon sings on “Play Me,” the title track and opener of her latest album. The song’s groovy sampled horns evoke the feeling of a summer drive, windows down, cruising aimlessly while staring at the sun and clouds until your vision blurs into a kaleidoscope of colors. You sink into the tape hiss and Gordon’s signature speak-singing as she mentions “make-out jams” and invites you to “feel free.” Everything feels amazing.
On Play Me, her third solo album out now, Gordon does indeed feel freer. While her last album, 2024’s critically acclaimed The Collective, rumbled like heavy machinery with bass that threatened to blow out your speakers, here the 72-year-old artist settles into the debris, confronting the realities of life in America.
Perhaps the most surprising element this time is her darkly humorous lyrics. When she re-recorded her 2024 song “Bye Bye,” Gordon swapped its original to-do list lyrics—a modern twist on Joan Didion’s packing list—for terms stigmatized by today’s political climate: “Trauma, privilege, uterus, men who have sex with men, measles, peanut allergy, abortion.” The result is funny in a laugh-or-cry kind of way. Elsewhere, on “SUBCON,” she sings, “A house is not a home / it’s a dream / a mirage,” then turns it around on dreamers by asking, “You wanna go to Mars… and then what? Then what? Then what?”
“The ‘Play Me’ lyrics are all made up from Spotify playlist names,” Gordon tells me, sitting in a bland conference room at the Condé Nast offices—perhaps the least punk-rock spot for our interview. “I have a serious face, but there’s a lot of humor in the lyrics.”
She wears a white button-down (fully buttoned), a gray pinstriped blazer, skinny blue jeans, and black square-toe boots. While her gaze remains steely, she’s also warm and approachable.
“Busy Bee” opens with a sample from a 1994 episode of MTV Beach House, featuring a very pregnant Gordon and her Free Kitten bandmate Julie Cafritz promoting their latest release—their voices distorted to sound like mice on helium. “It’s funny, and it also references something so old,” Gordon explains, “but people are into the ’90s.” Speaking of the ’90s, Dave Grohl plays drums on the track.
She’s poised for a busy-bee rest of the year. Not only is Gordon going on tour, but she also has three international exhibitions opening: “Count Your Chickens,” a survey of her drawings, ceramics, paintings, and readymades since 2007, opens at the Amant Foundation in Brooklyn on May 19; “Stories for a Body,” on view at the Collection Lambert in Avignon, France; and another show in June at 303 Gallery, which represents her work in New York.
That’s not to say the past few years haven’t already been busy. Gordon has been working with producer Julian Raisen since 2019’s No Home Record, her first solo project after three decades in the influential rock band Sonic Youth. With each release, they’ve created space for Gordon to expand and experiment with what makes her such a unique performer and songwriter.
“I told him that on this record, I wanted to have more beats, and I think he wanted to make my vocals more front and center,” she says of their process. “We both wanted to make tThe songs are short—it’s true that people have short attention spans—but I still think of it as an album. I don’t usually approach things in a heavily conceptual way, but this one really felt like it had a clear thread running through it.
She spent most of last year touring The Collective with a live band—featuring Sarah Register on guitar, Camilla Charlesworth on bass, and Madi Vogt on drums. The band captured the energy of punk basement shows while delivering the album’s raw, industrial-trap beats. The record not only landed on several year-end best-of lists but also earned Grammy nominations for Best Alternative Music Album and Best Alternative Music Performance (for “Bye Bye”).
She says she’s still taking in the nominations. “The Grammys represent the music industry to me—it’s a world that exists outside the music life I’ve always known, and it’s something you’re supposed to take seriously,” she says with a laugh. “But it was flattering to be recognized on a broader scale.” She attended the ceremony with her daughter, writer and poet Coco Gordon Moore, wearing a black Celine tuxedo and a glittery devil-horns headband.
Gordon adds, “Afterwards, my daughter said, ‘Well, that was an interesting experience.'”
Frequently Asked Questions
Of course Here is a list of FAQs about Kim Gordons new album The Collective which has been described as being all about fun
General Beginner Questions
Q What is the name of Kim Gordons new album
A The album is called The Collective
Q I keep hearing this album is all about fun What does that mean
A It means the album embraces a playful chaotic and sometimes abrasive energy Its less about traditional song structures and more about experimenting with sound texture and attitude Think of it as fun in a raw unconventional way
Q Is this a Sonic Youth album
A No this is a solo album by Kim Gordon It follows her first solo album No Home Record released in 2019
Q What does it sound like Is it rock music
A Its a mix of industrial noise hiphop beats minimalist electronics and spokenword Its more experimental and beatdriven than traditional rock with a heavy clanging production style
Q Who produced the album
A It was produced by Justin Raisen who is known for his work with artists like Yves Tumor Charli XCX and John Cale
Deeper Advanced Questions
Q How does The Collective differ from her first solo album No Home Record
A The Collective feels more focused on rhythm and digital clatter Its even less guitarcentric diving deeper into distorted electronics and trapinspired beats while maintaining her signature detached cool vocal delivery
Q The lyrics are often fragmented What are the main themes of the album
A The album critiques modern consumer culture the absurdity of daily life and the collective experience of living in a digital brandsaturated world Songs reference online shopping IKEA and the mundane horrors of contemporary existence
Q Why is there so much talk about shopping and brands on this album
A Gordon uses consumerism as a lens to examine identity and desire in America Its not an endorsement but a surreal and critical observation of how consumption shapes our lives and minds
Q Some tracks sound almost like ASMR or random audio clips Is there a method to this
A Absolutely The album uses